Champaign Urbana MTD Poem 2018 - We have a winner!
Weekend Dance
On the crowded bus ride home Friday,
a month’s worth of work finished in a week,
I imagine transforming this mass transit
into a dance party: an infectious toe tap starts
the swing of hips, shuffling feet, spins and twists
in the aisle and seats. (No jazz hands, please!)
We’ll dance through the weekend, without
a worry about Monday morning’s commute.
by Jason Lee Brown
April is National Poetry Month. To celebrate, the CU Poetry Group, in conjunction with the Champaign-Urbana MTD and Martin One Source, is holding a free Poetry Contest open to all Champaign County students and residents. The winning poem will be prominently displayed during the months of April, May, and June, on 75 CU MTD community buses running throughout Champaign, Urbana, and Savoy. The CU MTD averages over one million rides per month, which will offer great exposure to the winning poem. There is no fee to enter this contest.
Poetry Contest Guidelines
· All poems must be original work of the poet and previously unpublished
· Poems can be rhyming or non-rhyming in any format
· Poems will be evaluated on originality and creativity
· Due to space limitations, poems can be no more than 8 lines in length and must fit on an 11X17 poster. Short forms are welcome but not required
· Content must be suitable for public display
· English language only
· Poets of any age can enter
· Only one poem per entry, one entry per person
How to Enter
· Submit your entry in an email sent to cupoetry@gmail.com with the subject line MTD Poems
· If your poem is in a form that requires specific formatting, please attach it as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf. Otherwise, you may include it in the body of the email
· Include your name, age, hometown or school, email address and phone number in the body and in the attachment, if using one
· Entry deadline is March 18, 2018
Notification
· Winner will be contacted within 5 days of entry deadline
· Winner’s name and school or hometown may be used in promotional announcements
· Winner will receive one copy of finished poster
· Poets retain all copyrights to the submitted poems
CU MTD Poem 2017 Winner
Rainbow Bus
The rush hour bus rumbles
down rain-slicked streets.
Standing room only:
A rainbow of conversations
spans countries, continents.
Language leaps aisles, vaults down steps,
hangs on to every word. Pay attention.
Borders shift at every stop.
by Frank Modica, Urbana IL
CU MTD Poem 2016 Winner
We eight short lines
give you a chance
to look at us
as if you meant to
and smile that smile
(you know the one)
so the person sitting below this poem
will think we’ve shared a secret ;)
by Ann Hart, Mahomet IL